Study Group

Eighth grade midterms are Thursday and Friday. That means that this weekend, I have a house full of girls studying long hours. They have been assembled around our dining room table since 10 o'clock this morning studying for just the History test. There are a total of three mid-terms and so far they've spent 10 hours studying just for one. In one more hour they'll call it a day and reconvene at one o'clock tomorrow. We'll also host study group Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday after school.

It amazes me how much more effective studying as a group is for these girls. No way would my daughter study for eleven hours straight by herself. Also, with a study group they each gain the perspective and understanding of the other.

Magic.

My Next Taping Trip

I have planned my next taping trip. I will be headed back to Mexico on February 19 to tape all of the Barcelo Hotels and Resorts in Cancun and the Riviera Maya. I have been busy working on pages of each of these resorts for MexicoBeachExperts.com and WildTravelDeals.com

The Nerve!!

Unbelievable! Aren't we all battling enough junk email these days? We send a marketing email every Tuesday at 11:30am Eastern Time. It is an opt in email list with one click unsubscribe. Long story short, only people that want my email get my email.

I just received in my email box an invitation to an event at a local business. My email address was given to the business by the parent of someone my kid goes to school with. I know this because I got an email a couple of days ago from the parent himself talking about the same event.

Getting an email from the parent himself is fine, him giving my email address to someone else crosses all kinds of lines.

That is NOT okay.

Success!

I bought one of these for Lacy in an attempt to only give her safe things to chew on. This is made more difficult because we're still not entirely sure what made her sick to start with. This bone is designed for you to stick dog treats in either end. The dog has to work to eat the dog bones, so it keeps them busy for a while. I bought Bil Jac dog biscuits, which have the same nutrition as their food, so I hope it's a winner all around.

I just gave it to her and so far it's a winner..

Lacy is Home!

Lacy is Well! from Catherine Banks on Vimeo.

Pet Emergency

This morning when daughter went to go let Lacy out to potty, she found that she had had a blow out from both ends. Since she had vomited twice on Friday, we decided to go ahead and take her to our local pet emergency clinic.

Apparently Lacy has eaten something that is causing problems in her belly. She is currently resting with an IV and they are giving her medications to calm her tummy down. The hope is that whatever it is will pass right through and she can come home and get well.

Seven o'clock is the time that they will retake the xray...

14 Years? Really?!

Tomorrow is daughter's 14th birthday. A customer on the phone a little while ago helpfully mentioned that in a year she'll qualify to get a driver's permit.

This can't be true.

In any case, about 10 teenagers will descend on our home in about 4 hours to play Dance Dance Revolution, Rock Band and consume mass quantities of junk food. We've always avoided home parties due to the mess, but we'll see how it goes.

A New Profit Center for the Airlines....

The airlines are always looking for new ways to make money. I think I've identified a fool proof path to profits.

How much extra would you pay to have a pilot of the caliber of the pilot in yesterday's US Airways crash in the Hudson River? Seriously, I think the airlines should classify three different classes of pilot. New, Intermediate and Very Experienced.

You could get a bargain if you take a new pilot. The flights operated by the most experienced pilots would be sold at a premium price.

They would clean up!

Our Recent Story with WFAA

Here is a link to the video of our story on Channel 8 earlier this week.

It's American Idol Time!

Our family loves to watch American Idol together. Last season we started playing a game during auditions. Every time someone auditions we cut them off after about 3 notes and each of us votes if we think they will make it to Hollywood.

We actually keep track on paper of who gets the most right answers. I am last year's champion.

So far tonight I am not taking the lead......

Crazy Bird

For the last six days, this crazy bird has been trying to fly in our bedroom window. It normally starts at about 8 in the morning. The first day it almost gave me a heart attack because I was ready to get in the shower. It was just Lacy and me at home and I started hearing something tap on my bedroom window.

I really have no idea if it is always the same bird or if there are a whole flock of crazy birds taking turns.

My New Toy

When I've traveled to England, I have always so enjoyed having a cup of tea. Every trip I say, "I'm going to keep drinking tea when I get home."

It just is so nice to slow down for a minute and sip tea. You just can't guzzle hot tea quickly. I've just never been able to get a good setup to make it happen on a regular basis.

Finally I've done it. I got a Breville SK500XL Ikon Stainless-Steel Electric Kettle for Christmas.

This thing is so slick. I have it right by my desk. Every day I throw a bottle of water in it, it boils very quickly.

Then I pour it into my "Tea for One" (Mine is adorned with a painted image of Big Ben..I brought it home from London.) I have to drink decaf tea so that I don't make everyone, including myself, crazy.

Okay, so maybe this is going to turn into a puppy blog...

This morning, while cleaning up urine off of my bathroom floor, I comforted myself with the recollection that at least Lacy has never soiled any carpet in our home, and she has only urinated, never pooped.

Guess what I found 5 minutes later downstair...on an oriental rug?

My Son and my Kindle

I think I've mentioned before that my sweet boy is ADHD and Dyslexic. He is on medication and has been having extra reading therapy help for several years.

I require him to read aloud 30 minutes each night (in addition to the 30 minutes his teacher requires as a part of his normal homework). This requires a steady supply of books. We had used up all of our library books by the end of the Christmas break.

I asked him to go to the school library and get new ones. Sadly, Monday was rainy and messy and an extra trip to the library just didn't happen.

In an act of desperation and not wanting to fall out of our good habit, I fired up my Amazon Kindle and searched for children's chapter books. Three dollars and 2 minutes later I had downloaded a Nancy Drew book and we were on our way.

Son is now a complete convert to both Nancy Drew and to the Kindle. He can no longer be bothered to turn his own pages. He finished the first Nancy Drew and can hardly wait to start the next one....

Making a New Video

Last year I made a video featuring stories from each of our staff about travel stories they've had over the years.

It's time to make a new one. I'm thinking this time I'll do one on "things you might not know about __________ "

Like....some thing you might not know about Marty is that he used to have a mullet. (It was halfway down his back and six inches high on his head. I so wish I had a picture.)

Should be fun...

It All Starts Again Tomorrow....

Tomorrow the break is over. The kids go back to school, people are back to work full force, expectations are renewed.

During the last half of December I feel like I am able to keep up on things at work and at home...then the first Monday in January hits and it all falls apart.

Too much to do, too little time, high expectations. 2009 is no different. If anything, it's worse this year because of the economy. We have to work really hard...be really creative..raise our hand higher than ever before.

One day at a time....

Puppy Class

We have just completed our 2nd of 6 puppy training classes at Petsmart. Last week was all about the "watch me" command. This week the main feature was "sit".

Lacy did better at "sit" than she did on "watch me".

We are in class with just one other dog. The other dog is some Rat Terrier mixed breed rescue dog. She is possibly the most irritating dog I've ever seen. Last class she barked nonstop throughout the entire class. This week she peed 4 times in the store during class and pooped once.

Just for the record, Lacy needed to "go" also...and she did so as soon as she got home, in her yard where she is supposed to.

The mom of the other dog is also fairly irritating. Daughter describes that she acts like "one of those teachers pet girls in high school". I think that's a fairly good description.

I'm sure these Petsmart classes are not the most effective and professional classes anywhere, but they do create a framework and an accountability so that we work with her every day. And, really, working with her every day is where the real training is.

More Puppy Talk

(I promise this isn't becoming a puppy blog....I promise.)

Last night we were all up in our room watching House, MD. Lacy just wouldn't settle down. She had been calm when we were downstairs, but since coming upstairs she just paced and paced on the bed. We made several successful outside visits, but still she paced.

Finally, Son (who had been on the floor) came up to lay on the bed with the rest of us. Lacy was finally satisfied. She plopped right down and didn't get up again.

I guess she wanted her "pack" to be all in one place.

Living in a State of Puppy Emergency

As you saw yesterday, we got the most beautiful dog in the world for Christmas. Kingston Lacy Banks is certainly shaking things up at our house.

Having just achieved a station in life where I didn't need to worry about the toileting of anyone else and my sleep needn't be disturbed on a regular basis anymore it has been an adjustment, to say the least.

We have created a puppy safe environment in our family room/kitchen area. I'm sure she will find something we haven't secured. She is doing pretty well for an 8 week old puppy in the potty training department, but accidents are to be expected.

Another issue is that she occasionally turns into Kujo for a few minutes and uses any nearby human as a chew toy. Her sharp teeth make this an interesting game. It also freaks out our son to the point where he is afraid to be alone with her.

We TiVO Cesar Millan now and watch every episode. I am trying to talk to son about being "calm assertive", but there isn't much calm about my son.